Many lives were lost. Yet, as the flames faded, many still felt the heavy toll of weariness bearing down on them. Thousands had already lost their homes, their means of income, and their way of life. They were scared that even their most basic needs like food and water were growing scarce.
As early as 6 a.m. on September 9, Tzu Chi volunteers immediately mobilized themselves to help feed the lot of displaced persons and many others who were in need of food and other assistance. Since then, the volunteers were working around the clock to distribute much-needed food and other necessities. Tzu Chi conducted medical missions and set up mobile clinics in the evacuation camps.
Tzu Chi has been operating in the city for at least the last 14 years; it has always been a source of hope and support not only in times of social crisis, but whenever anyone is in dire need of aid.
Tzu Chi’s ‘Great Love’
“When I was small, I wanted to be a surgeon,” recounted Dr. Josefino Qua, one of Tzu Chi’s commissioners. “I wanted to serve humanity, especially the poor.”
Dr. Qua came from Manila for a surgical mission in the city late this February, along with a handful of dedicated doctor-specialists. In an interview, he recalled that during his early years as a doctor, more interest was put into earning than helping. “I just forgot about the ‘serving humanity’ part.”
It was during that time of realization that he wanted to do something about it. Dr. Qua’s mother was one of the pioneers of Tzu Chi Foundation in the Philippines. “My mother introduced me to her friends. It was my time to give back.”
But “serving humanity” has never been easy.
Dr. Qua remembered the time when he and fellow Tzu Chi doctors struggled for a surgical-medical outreach. “We had to sterilize an office, and even a classroom for a surgical operation. We carried the patients on a make-shift wooden stretcher. We practically did not have any equipment.”
Within a few years the group grew in numbers. Donors, local and international have felt the “Great Love”, and the amount of help brought to those who need it had swollen.
Tzu Chi Zamboanga for the whole of Mindanao
In the year 2000, Tzu Chi reached Zamboanga for a medical mission. Dr. Anton Mari Lim, who heads the local liaison office said that after the mission, more people still needed various medical services – most of whom did not have the money to avail of expensive medical procedures. Thus, Tzu Chi Zamboanga was born.
Tzu Chi medical missions have become a regular activity here – done once or twice a year, considering that the Foundation spends at the very least a million pesos for each mission.
A few years later, Tzu Chi Zamboanga had realized two buildings within the premises of the Zamboanga City Medical Center – the Tzu Chi Great Love Rehabilitation Center and the Tzu Chi Great Love Eye Center, in 2004 and 2008 respectively. Thousands had already availed of the free medical sessions and services from the two centers, and many more are continuing to benefit.
Tzu Chi Zamboanga is one of three liaison offices in the Philippines; with one in Manila and another in Cebu. The Zamboanga office, being the only one in Mindanao caters to the other towns and cities in the island. “We have to haul our equipment for example to (Zamboanga) Sibugay, Dipolog, and even as far as General Santos City,” explained Dr. Lim.
“Tzu Chi is ready to assist local governments whenever needed,” Dr. Lim clarified.
Dedication of volunteers is essential
Dr. Qua emphasized that in outreaches like surgical-medical missions, “we do not look for just ordinary doctors”. Those who perform the operations should be specialists, experts per se. “But all that would not matter if they did not have the dedication and willingness to help.”
During last month’s medical mission at the Great Love Eye Center, Dr. Qua said that the doctors would work their regular hours, sometimes even beyond 12 midnight – similar hours, or even more than during the times when they were actually compensated for their services.
“We need to take good care of the patients and ensure that the operations are a success,” he said. “If we did something just for the sake of it and something goes wrong, all our work would have been for nothing.”
Dr. Lim added that the outreaches cover laboratory tests and other incidental expenses needed by the patients, sometimes even food and transportation. “Wala talagang short-cut, kahit libre,” he said. (The patients are never short-changed, even if the services are for free.)
Tzu Chi’s help is not limited only to providing medical services, and the volunteers, as commonly perceived, are not all doctors and medical personnel.
“Plenty are ordinary housewives, secretaries, teachers, businessmen, and others. We have approximately 2,000 donor-members and most of them are working. But they shell out monthly donations and give out their extra hours like on nighttime and weekends,” clarified Dr. Lim. “Anybody who wants to help can be a volunteer-member.”
Tzu Chi’s duty is to reach out to poor communities and to those who are in need of immediate help and relief, like during the Ondoy, Sendong, Yolanda and the Zamboanga siege episodes.
In a press release, Judy Lao of the Manila office wrote: “Tzu Chi’s mission is more than just charity… the goal is to spread the spirit of selfless Great Love. Like a seed that produces more seeds, compassionate actions can inspire more love.”